[MRCA] [MMRCG] Your thoughts on acquiring a BC-611 today

[Mark K3MSB]

One other item that needs to be considered if purchasing a working unit or
one that is desired to be returned to working condition is the condition of
the two IF transformers T1 and T2.  The issue is the quality of the solder
connections (as they age), inside the transformers, between the Litz wire
and solder terminals.

In my working unit, the primary and secondaries of both transformers
measure around 10 ohms, which is considered “good”.    On my other unit,
 T1 also measures around 10 & 10 ohms but the resistances for T2 are 18
(secondary) and 32 ohms (primary).   That doesn't mean T2 is bad,  but the
32 ohms reading should be noted.

I bring this up as working or working candidates can be pricey today, and
those resistance measurements can give you an idea of how long the unit may
last without you needing to get replacement transformers or fixing the
existing ones.   And I understand that fixing them is not for the faint of
heart....   The good news is that when you remove the board, measuring the
4 resistances is straight forward.

>>do you love it? Hate it? Worth it? If you could do over, would you still
have bought one, or skipped it?

I got my pair quite a few years ago from a friend of a friend for a good
buddy price, so I was not paying 2026 or eBay prices.   If I did not get
into re-enacting last year I would probably put both up for sale.   Aside
from taking them to club meetings to wow the newbies, they would not get
used.  As it is, this will be my first year taking it “on the road” to talk
with others (if any) at the shows.   So at this time, it is “worth it” to
own them.

To me, they are a royal PITA to work on.  Small quarters and you have to
scrape off the liberally applied anti-fungal coating.   And I mean
liberally applied.   While I consider them a PITA to work on, I must admire
the work the engineers did to build those units in the 1940s.

My two cents worth....

73 Mark K3MSB

On Mon, May 25, 2026 at 1:42 PM Jason Sogolow via groups.io <w6iee.73=
gmail.com at groups.io> wrote:

> Said radio to me seems like the apex for us military radio collecting and
> operating nerds, especially after considering the “dollars per pound” and
> “dollars per milliwatt” calculations. (Much safer for one’s toes, however.)
>
> But no denying the cool factor, checks a lot of my boxes: Operational
> history, AM, highly portable,  seems to be the origin story for why the 75M
> AM center of the universe landing on 3885, as someone who works in public
> safety communications and has revived a lot of old Motorola gear to work on
> the ham bands, having “Motorola’s first HT” (yeah, I know… Galvin… minor
> technicality)
>
> But I want to ask those of you who have had one for a while… do you love
> it? Hate it? Worth it? If you could do over, would you still have bought
> one, or skipped it? Easy or difficult to keep running? Horror stories?
> Experiences with recent power supply modules?
>
> (I do have both of Mark Francis’ books… he’s much more objective than the
> subjective that I’m inquiring upon)
>
> What other thoughts and advice do you have?
>
> Thanks and 73,
> Jason WA6BBQ
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